As has been noted for many months, the Trump Administration’s comically over-produced and substantively underwhelming attempts at nuclear diplomacy with North Korea have yielded no real results. If there weren’t so much at stake, it would almost be funny that the people who criticized the Obama Administration’s supposed doctrine of strategic patience have been all but silent about what can generally be described as haphazard inaction.

With its latest warning of payback and “actual horror and unrest,” the North Korean regime is making it clear that their patience has worn thin. At the same time, to paraphrase a line from the classic movie Fatal Attraction, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un won’t be ignored. The country conducted a series of short-range missile tests in March and is undoubtedly continuing to refine its nuclear capabilities.

Despite the lack of progress, the Trump Administration continues to insist on a maximalist—and as of yet, poorly defined — demand of complete, verifiable, and irreversible disarmament. Any gains from President Trump’s unorthodox decision to meet with Chairman Kim have now effectively been lost, if not wasted. The task has also just become monumentally harder, as the Trump Administration now has to manage the challenge of the North Korean nuclear threat in the midst of a global pandemic. Read more